As God is to me, I shall be to my son!

Winkie woke up very crabby this morning, with his allergies bothering him again. Some medicine helped the itchy eyes, but he was still not ready to go to school. Just as I was toying with the idea of making him stay home, some instinct (thank God they exist!) told me that there was more to it. I asked him if there was something else bothering him about school. And yes, there was. His otherwise good pal in school, whom he loves to hang out with and play during recess, had started being mean to him. Making the others purposely tag Winkie to get him out, making fun of him in some ways, and little little acts of meanness that could be hurtful when added up, and even on its own.

This is a situation that can get quite tricky quite soon. But I was sure of one thing. There would be a lot of talking going on, between me and Winkie. There was no doubt in my mind at all, that love (the outright kind) was always the first recourse that I would talk to him about. Even though it is super challenging for a child this young, I would not lose this opportunity to talk to him about how love could change a lot of things, at least within him. Barring that, it would be best to walk away from that situation and that person. Just stop the interaction, so the opportunity doesn't arise for this petty pressure.


I still have to dome some thinking on it, and talk a lot to Winkie to try and get his feelings out in the open and understand exactly what is going on. And I think we can get off to a good start over bagels at our favorite Dunkin's across the road. I have decided to surprise him after school, with this little treat, just me and my boys. And while Thambi digs in, Winkie and I can talk and understand each other calmly, without the rush of school.

For now, he is on that bus on his way, rather unhappily, to school. It hurts to think of him so deflated like that, but whenever I weaken with thoughts like these, I always remember the relationship that parenting emulates. That of the relationship between an individual and God. When I have a problem, it deflates me at first, the enormity of it. And God watches on, as He always does, not weakened by His love for me, but all-knowing and all-seeing, and I always imagine Him with a gentle, benevolent smile, that is quite unruffled by my problems, but with compassion flowing like a steady river towards me. All I have to do to tap into His calm Love, is to turn and look for Him. And when I do, He is there. Always.

As I watched Winkie walk to his stop this morning, these were the thoughts running through my head. I wished my son would turn and look at me, and see me smiling and rooting for him. I wished he could sense me transferring whatever energy I had in the form of firm prayer and positive thought. When he reached his stop, he did turn back once to look. And when his bus passed by, he made eye contact and waved at me. Whatever anger and upset he was feeling, he was still able to set that aside to wave at me, like always. And with that, he has shown his faith, unknown to him as it may be, right now. And where there is faith, there is always hope. And God.

I have no doubts at all, that he will face his life in school, and come back to tell me about it. And when I open that door, he will be standing there with a smile on his face...